To enhance the performance of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices, stresses may be introduced into the channel regions of the MOS devices to improve carrier mobility. Generally, it is desirable to induce a tensile stress in the channel region of an n-type MOS (“NMOS”) device in a source-to-drain direction, and to induce a compressive stress in the channel region of a p-type MOS (“PMOS”) device in a source-to-drain direction. Techniques for improving the stresses in the MOS devices are thus explored.